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Italy facing "match of our lives"

Gianluigi Buffon said on Sunday that Tuesday's final Group C
pool decider against France would be "the match of our
lives" with both sides needing to win to reach the last
eight.

"After suffering a defeat such as that we had against
Holland to start the competition you either roll over or you appeal
to your pride and that's what we did against Romania,"
said Buffon, who made a fantastic penalty save from Adrian Mutu to
prevent the Italians going behind 2-1 late in the second-half and
where defeat would have had them on an early plane home. We tried
right to the end and our shirts were drenched in sweat - that shows
we did all we could" to get the three points.

The draw against the Romanians has left the world champions
needing to repeat their 2006 FIFA World Cup™ success over
Les Bleus if they are to go any further in the tournament,
though were Romania to beat the Netherlands it would make it
superfluous.

"Like ourselves, France will be surprised only to have
mustered one point after two matches. But it seems that Italy are
on better form as we have come off a good match," the 1-1 draw
which could easily have been more against the Eastern Europeans,
whereas the French slid to a 4-1 loss to the Dutch last time
out.

"I think we have a greater chance of going through but when
it comes down to one match it's like a final. We have shown
some signs of recovery and where they are concerned we will have to
see how they are going to recover from the hiding against the
Dutch."

"Not a fluke""We must concentrate on our match without getting lost
in making too many calculations. We have to go out there and play
the match of our lives," said the Juventus stopper, who added
that Italy could not have become a bad side overnight.

"The World Cup was not a fluke. If we get to the quarters
it will mean we will have come up with a little extra. It's
normal to feel the pressure and I am dying to get out there and
play. A double or quits match is what our work is all about and
that's why we are well paid. We need this kind of
match."

Buffon meanwhile said he did not believe the Dutch would allow
the Romanians to get the win they need to claim second spot.
"Sincerely, I think it will be a real match. And the Romanians
will have to go out there and play the match of their own lives and
could suffer a backlash, kind of boomerang effect."

Looking ahead to a possible later meeting with the Dutch and a
chance to exact revenge for their opening 3-0 loss, Buffon smiled
and said: "Given the results of the first round I think (Dutch
coach Marco) van Basten would love to meet either of us (Italy or
France) in the semis!"